How Antique Jewellery Was Made

Before machines, every antique jewel was made by hand: cut, shaped, soldered, engraved and set by craftsmen whose skills took years to learn. Understanding how antique jewellery was made helps you recognise quality, and appreciate why so much of it can’t be reproduced today.

The Jeweller, a nineteenth-century painting by Quido Mánes — The Jeweller, by the Czech painter Quido Mánes (1828–1880). Quido Mánes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Working the metal

Most antique jewellery was hand-fabricated: sheet and wire were cut, bent and soldered together rather than cast in a mould. Hand-made pieces have crisp detail, even on the back, and a slight irregularity that machine-made jewellery lacks.

Engraving of an eighteenth-century goldsmith-jeweller's workshop and tools — A goldsmith-jeweller's workshop and tools, from Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, 18th century. Rijksmuseum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Decorating the surface

Engraving cuts lines into the metal by hand with a steel tool, as on this early Victorian gold chain with its engraved clasp.

Chasing and repoussé shape the metal from the front and back with punches and hammers to create raised designs.

Engine turning uses a hand-operated lathe to cut fine, repeating patterns, as on this engine-turned Edwardian locket.

Cannetille, fine coiled gold wire, was a Georgian speciality, used in the delicate filigree of earrings and brooches.

Engine-turned locket, repoussé ring, engraved bracelet and cannetille earrings — Engine turning, repoussé, engraving and cannetille, all done by hand: pieces from our collection.

Granulation, tiny gold beads fused to a surface, was revived by nineteenth-century archaeological jewellers inspired by ancient Etruscan gold.

An ancient Etruscan gold fibula decorated with granulation, the work Victorian archaeological jewellers set out to rival. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Victorian 18ct Gold Etruscan Revival Pendant with Scarab Motif

Enamel

Enamel is powdered glass fused to metal in a kiln. Champlevé fills recesses cut into the metal; cloisonné fills cells made of fine wire; plique-à-jour has no backing, so light shines through like stained glass; guilloché lays translucent enamel over an engine-turned surface. Black enamel was the colour of mourning, as in this early Victorian black enamel locket, while blue and white enamel brought colour to Georgian rings like this one.

Black enamel locket, blue enamel ring, guilloché enamel pendant and plique-à-jour brooch — Black, blue, guilloché and plique-à-jour enamel: pieces from our collection.

Turn any piece over. The back tells you whether someone cared. Georgian and Victorian jewellers finished the parts nobody would ever see, and that’s real craftsmanship.
Olly Gerrish, AJC Founder

Setting the stones

Georgian jewellers often set stones in closed-back settings over coloured foil to heighten their colour. Victorians set diamonds in silver-topped gold, and later in claws. The Edwardians used platinum to make fine claws and millegrain edges; Art Deco jewellers perfected calibré and channel setting. Every stone was cut by hand, too, which is why old mine cut diamonds have such individual character.

Foiled Georgian ring, silver-topped diamond cluster, Edwardian millegrain ring and Art Deco calibré ruby ring — Foiled closed backs, silver-topped gold, platinum millegrain and calibré-cut stones: two centuries of stone setting in our collection.

Why it matters today

Many of these skills are now rare and expensive. Reproducing the handwork in a Georgian cannetille brooch or a Victorian enamel locket would cost far more than the antique original, which is one reason antique jewellery offers such remarkable value.

Antique enamel and engraved jewellery from our collection — Enamel, engraving and engine turning: craftsmanship in our collection. See more

Our view

Look closely at any good antique jewel and you will see the hand of its maker. That, more than anything, is what makes it worth owning. Read more in our guides to Georgian jewellery and antique hallmarks.